


Choices

by bamboozledeagle



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Chosen au, Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22174798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamboozledeagle/pseuds/bamboozledeagle
Summary: Collection of Spin-offs from my Chosen AU Fic. In this world, Legendary Pokemon can share minds and, rarely, power with a mortal of their choosing. These fics focus more on how characters met their Pokemon Team.Chapter 1: Della's Charizard, Ace, gives us his version of the story with Della.Chapter 2: How Fenton met his team and became a Chosen
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57





	1. Ace

The first time Charmander meets Della, he knows she’s the one he wants to be his trainer. 

He’s released from his ball by the creature in white and his arrival is announced by sound of his claws click against the cold, metal floor. The bright lights that are always on force him to squint in order to make out the figures in front of him and he hears Bulbasaur and Squirtle come out of their own balls on either side of him. Bulbasaur is as calm as ever and merely settles on the ground as if she’s going to go back to sleep. Squirtle gives a happy cry and leaps at one of the beings in front of them - the Creature In Blue. Charmander watches, curious as the turtle Pokémon knocks the creature onto its back with a startled squawk. 

The creature in brown makes a happy noise and Charmander turns his wide eyes to look at it. It’s got short thin vines coming down from its head and its body is almost entirely white. The creature has some kind of portable blanket on it, like the other large creatures but it’s mostly brown instead of blue or white. It’s also got something shiny on its head, like the things the Creature In White wears on its face but bulkier and it sits atop the creature’s head rather than over its eyes. Charmander cocks his head to the side, trying to understand the purpose of it.

The object of his attention shifts as the creature returns Charmander’s gaze. It (she, he will learn) bares its teeth at Charmander in what he has learned is a show of happiness rather than a challenge to a fight. He calls out to her happily and she shows him more teeth. She picks him up and his tail flares in joy. 

“I think I’ll call you Ace.”

And so he is no longer Charmander, but Ace.

…

Ace loves his trainer. 

She is daring and kind. She is always happy and ready for a challenge. She is his best friend. 

She is also very stressful. 

Ace is too small to save her from falling from a tree and breaking her arm. He is too vulnerable to stop her from trying to hold her breath for as long as she can underwater. Thus, he is grateful for the other creature. 

He will stand next to The Blue One and cling to it while they both scream in terror as his trainer falls from the tree. He will cheer The Blue One on as it dives down after his trainer and pulls her up. He has come to realize that if he cries for long enough, The Blue One will come to see what is happening. He is grateful for The Blue One and sometimes he thinks perhaps it would be better to be with him instead.

He always changes his mind. 

His trainer is brave and confident, she is encouraging and amicable. She is willing to wrestle with Ace at a moment’s notice and he values the time he spends racing her up the trees or through the corn fields. He enjoys grabbing the treats the Older Creature makes and fleeing from it (and it’s Miltank) with her. He cannot imagine having anyone else for a trainer.

“Della!” The Blue One will scold his trainer, “You have to be more careful!”

“Don’t be such a worry-wart, Donald!”

He learns its name is Della.

…

Della tells him what the shiny thing on her head is.

“They’re goggles for pilots!” 

He isn’t sure what goggles or pilots are, but they are important to Della and so they are important to him. 

…

Squirtle, who is Captain now, and the Magikarp named Aqua are great friends with him. Ace has known Captain since they hatched and Aqua is happy to let him ride on its back in the water. It is difficult to be friends with them due to their opposite types. One mistake and either could kill him. He is young and weak, and his tail is a glaring weakness for him. He is fortunate Aqua is still trying to learn tackle and Captain is still practicing water gun. They are friends, but the disadvantage he has with them is obvious to all three of them.

Despite this, he cherishes their friendship. He’s come close to falling into the pond more than once and it was only Aqua’s presence and Captain’s quick movements that have saved him. Their trainer, The Blue One, (Donald, he has learned) does not like him hanging around the pond. It is clear he is the caretaker of the family. Ace appreciates the concern, but Donald can become overbearing. 

Della has no qualms about how close he is to the pond, she allows him the freedom to take chances and learn. She is much more of a risk-taker and consequently much more of a risk-allower. He learns much from the freedom she affords him. 

The first is that the berries in the forest are delicious but certain kinds can make him sick. The second is that if he climbs too high in the trees, he cannot get down. The third is that he can breathe fire. He discovers his limitations and his capabilities. His eyes sparkle when he shows his trainer what he’s learned and he’s never happier than when she praises him. 

…

He’s not sure why, but the elder creature, the one called Grandma, is gone. Wooden floors and farmland are replaced with tile and short grass. Farm work stops, he doesn’t help Della start a bonfire in the backyard to burn leaves and he no longer has to help carry milk and eggs into the house. Captain is thrilled with the larger number of lakes, though Ace thinks they’re oddly shaped and funny smelling.   
Aqua shies away. The New Elder Creature says a word Ace has never heard before and Aqua recoils at it. Della and Donald scold The New Elder Creature, and he learns its name is Uncle Scrooge. 

For a while, Ace does not have a good opinion of Uncle Scrooge. The Persian that follows him is intimidating and Uncle Scrooge upset Aqua, but then the adventures start. 

On the first adventure, Ace is curious about the flying metal thing they spent the past few hours in, but he forgets it once the door opens. Ace rushes out to the sight of something he’s never seen before. Tall trees stretch up to the sky, Pokémon he’s never heard of before run off into the odd forest, and there are so many vines that he cannot see more than a couple feet in front of him. The leaves on the trees are bigger than he is, and he hears a Tropius let out a cry in the distance.

Now Ace is fighting Pokémon and going to places he’s never even imagined. It’s exciting, much more so than the farm, and he knows Uncle Scrooge is the one to thank. Uncle Scrooge never calls Aqua the bad word again, so Ace decides to forgive his previous transgressions.

…

Ace has never had to share his trainer with another Pokémon before. After Ace evolves into a Charmeleon, Della catches Dragonite. The Dragon Pokémon is much larger than Ace and he can’t help but feel jealous of the other Pokémon’s size and strength. Dragonite is kind and patient and big and strong and Ace fears Della will take a preference for his new teammate. 

His fears go unfounded. Dragonite is a good sparring partner and Ace soon discovers she has no intention of replacing him. Dragonite used to belong to another trainer and is experienced when it comes to sharing a trainer with five other Pokémon. She gives him tips and advice when he asks and soon enough he decides he doesn’t mind sharing Della with Dragonite. 

…

Uncle Scrooge pushes Donald into the ice vortex and he emerges in an ice block. Ace goes to try to thaw him out, but Della and Scrooge stop him. This confuses him.

The two laugh at Donald. Oh, it is a game! They will unfreeze him after they have had their fun! Ace relaxes, sorry he doubted them. Della calls him back to his ball. 

He does not ever find out that they did not unfreeze the caretaker and Captain never tells him how he and his teammates all learned Aqua Ring. 

…

Hawlucha and Altaria join the team around the same time that Ace’s friendship with Captain and Aqua starts to fade. Donald and Della no longer battle one another and between being in his ball and practicing his moves and battle skills, Ace hardly ever sees the two anymore. 

As he drifts away from them, he draws closer to his teammates. 

Hawlucha, despite her size, is strong in a way Dragonite is not and Altaria’s feathers are perfect for napping in. He learns a lot from them: how to be part of a bigger team, how to use his tail when he fights, and how to stand his ground.

Next comes Salamence and Talonflame. Salamence is bigger than any Pokémon Ace has ever seen and Talonflame’s claws scare him a little. He can’t help but look at himself and compare himself to them. His claws seem dull compared to Talonflame’s. His size seems small compared to Salamance. His skin seems rough compared to Altaria’s fluffy feathers. He seems weak compared to Dragonite. He seems rash compared to Hawlucha.

He’s not big or strong like Salamence and Hawlucha, he’s not cool and collected like Talonflame and Dragonite, he’s not soft and fluffy like Altaria. It’s not just him anymore and he wonders where that leaves him.

By the time he knows the answer to that question, it’s too late.

…

Della is having eggs.

Ace has long since evolved into a Charizard and he uses his bigger stature to hover around her like a mother hen. He follows her everywhere and growls at anyone unfamiliar who gets too close. There are younglings about to be laid, he won’t take any chances. Della finds it annoying. Donald gives him treats for it. 

Ace stays by her side and refuses to return to his pokéball even after the eggs are laid. They don’t look like normal Pokémon eggs, but Ace doesn’t care. They’re Della’s and that makes them family. He can hear their heartbeats through the egg shells and when Altaria asks, he lies and tells her that he isn’t crying. He didn’t realize how much he wanted to have younglings in the family until now. Ace is a protector by nature and he will do anything for the younglings that are on the way.

He doesn’t ever leave their side, if he can’t hear their heartbeats he starts to panic. He doesn’t realize it, but Scrooge never has to buy an incubator with Ace constantly near the eggs. Until one day Della convinces him to. She promises Donald will keep watch over the eggs, that they’ll be back soon, that everything will be alright. 

He believes her.

…

Something feels wrong about this. 

Ace releases himself from his ball and growls at the portal in front of him. Everything about it screams of wrongness and danger. 

“Ace this is getting ridiculous, now you’re growling at a portal?” Della scolds, “I thought you passed this phase once the boys were laid!”

He whines at her. It’s not right - it’s dangerous. His teammates sense it to and they release themselves as well. 

Della doesn’t seem to get it, “Really? All of you now?”

She pulls out their pokéballs and one by one she calls them back in.

Ace stands his ground. He knows – can sense really – that if they walk through that portal, they aren’t coming back. The others know that, he’s sure of it, they’re so much stronger than him how could they not?

They go with her because they care about Della. Ace stands his ground because he loves her. She’s his best friend and she’s got younglings waiting for her, he can’t let her do this. 

Della gets frustrated and the temper her family is well known for appears, “If you don’t want to go then fine! Stay here! I wanted to go on one last adventure with you guys before I had to raise the boys, but if you want to stay then stay! See if I care!” 

Ace lunges after her but she walks through the portal before he can reach her. It closes in his face with his arm still inside, futilely trying to stop his friend.

A roar of pain and sadness rips itself from his throat and the heart-wrenching noise is heard for miles. 

She’s gone.

…

She left behind her Goggles and he clutches it with the arm he has left for a long, long time. He’s not sure how many sunsets he sits through. He eats when he has to, drinks when he can’t go on any longer, and he doesn’t move from his spot. 

He waits.

And he waits.

And he waits.

…

A youngling crashes through the growth around him and falls at his feet. It’s wearing blue and it smells like his best friend. Ace moves for the first time in years. 

It shrieks while he sniffs it and an Oshawott hits him with its tiny, weak hands before realizing it has a shell on its chest and starts hitting him with it. Ace nuzzles the youngling with a happy rumble.

“Ace?”

Ace looks up. It’s been years since he’s heard his own name.

It’s Donald.

Ace keens. He’s sure Donald won’t want him back in the family since he failed to protect the one person they both cared so deeply for, but Donald rushes over with a worried face and checks his arm. “What did you do to yourself?”

Ace whines and looks over to the spot the portal was. 

“You’ve been waiting for her all this time, haven’t you?” Donald apologizes, “Ace I’m so sorry, we thought you went with her when she – we would have come get you.”

Captain appears with a flash of red. The Blastoise makes some heavy steps over to him before placing his head against Ace’s neck like they would when they fell asleep together as younglings. A soft, clear blue light appears around them and the pain that has settled in his arm for so long finally – finally – leaves.

“Let’s go home, Ace. We’ll wait for her together, okay?”

…

The younglings are just like her, but they’ve got some of Donald in them too. They ask him tons of questions he can’t physically answer, and they let him curl around them like he did when they were eggs. Scrooge and Donald are with him when the people in white take care of his arm. Captain is there when he falls asleep afterward. 

He’s told that there are some more younglings in the family now and he happily meets the pink youngling and her team as well as Donald’s new team of younglings. Somehow they all decide that he makes the best heater and often fall asleep on top of him when they’re tired or cold. He meets Della’s youngling’s teams this way. The monkeys, more often than not, will use him as their own jungle gym while Tepig learns from him and Snivy sleeps on him. Oshawott was the last to join in, its pride preventing it from asking Ace for fighting tips, but soon the Pokémon gives in and lets Ace teach her some moves. 

For the first time in a long time, Ace is no longer alone. Ace misses Della, he always will, and he spent so long regretting not going with her, but for the first time in a long time he’s happy


	2. Fenton

He’s six when he decides he wants to be just like his M’ma. 

He remembers her coming home, a smile on her face and a little skip to her step. Her Arcanine is at her heels and the Pokémon gives him a lick and a nuzzle in greeting. He giggles as Fuego’s tongue tickles his cheek. His mother huffs at them, fondly.

He reaches out to her with his little arms, curious and delighted that she is happy. She kisses his head and calls him “Gordito” and “Patito” with an immeasurable amount love in her voice. He asks her what happened. 

She hesitates for a moment before she tells him that there were some bad men who were being mean to a lady and she was able to save the lady from them. He smiles and adoration lights in his eyes. His mother is amazing. She’s brave and kind and she helps people. 

In his eyes, she’s a superhero.

…

He’s eight when he almost entirely stops speaking Spanish outside of his home. A couple of bullies have made him their new target and his friends have all but ditched him for fear of becoming collateral. He’s different in all the ways the other kids don’t like. 

His abuela dies of a heart attack. His stern, gentle, and wise abuela who looked after him while his mother was working passes quietly during the night. He cries at the funeral and cries again when he has to spend the evenings in an empty house, waiting on his M’ma to come home. 

M’ma comes home with an orange and black Pokémon egg a month later. She tells him to watch it and keep it warm. He carries it around with him in his backpack, out of sight from the bullies. From it, hatches his first real friend. 

Growlithe is curious and excited about the world, just like Fenton is. They spend hours running around in the park, Budews and Hoppips scattering from the happy shouts and playful growls. He names her Inez, after his Abuelo’s Houndoom. Inez is fiercely loyal and makes a terrifying sight to the bullies who don’t even have starters. 

Fenton dutifully keeps Inez in her Pokéball during school hours…and only school hours. He doesn’t like keeping her in her ball. He prefers to have her trotting at his side, yapping at falling leaves and bounding down the sidewalk with him.

At night, he buries his head in her warm pelt, fingers combing through the black and orange fur. He wakes up each morning to find her scratching at the door, ready to go out and start the day. With his mother’s reluctant permission, he begins to spend a lot of time at the park, playing with Inez under the guise of trying to train her. 

It’s there that he meets Ralts. 

…

Ralts is the opposite of Inez. She’s incredibly shy, but for some reason she latches onto Fenton. 

He’s not sure when she first emerged out of the bushes, but the moment Fenton’s eyes land on her, she freezes. Inez is running after a semi-burnt stick in the park, leaving just Fenton and the Ralts. Fenton watches the Pokémon with excitement, Ralts are rare to see in the wild, especially in such a populated area. He grins and tries to approach her. The Ralts shuffles back and Fenton stops.

Inez comes bounding back but stops before she reaches Fenton. As if she could sense Ralts’ hesitance, she drops the stick and sits down for a moment before her tail becomes infinitely more interesting. 

While Inez chases her own tail, Ralts shuffles forward. 

“Hi.” He says, offering her his open palm. She plops the tip of a little white arm on his palm. “I’m Fenton.”

The Pokémon closes its eyes and the air around it distorts. Fenton blinks, confused. Then it stops. The Ralts lets out a joyful cry and pats his hand.

He names her Atom.

…

He picks Totodile slightly because the water-type will balance out his team, mostly because no one else would pick it. 

He’s not the only middle school graduate who has set his sights on becoming a trainer and the other Totodiles are picked, but no one seems to care for the smallest and saltiest of the bunch. Only Fenton can see the cry for attention for what it is.

He watches the other potential trainers take a stream of water to the face and the more determined ones get nipped on the hand. One boy runs away with the Totodile biting at his ankles. Fenton would feel bad for the kid if he hadn’t just witnessed the boy sneer at the little Pokémon. 

He brought Atom and Inez with him, unwilling to pick a Pokémon that they won’t get along with. He can pity the Totodile all he wants, he won’t choose it if his Pokémon don’t either.   
Inez gets a face full of water and is delighted. Atom, who Fenton thought would have a hard time finding a match and who is also notoriously shy and cautious to the point where any new Pokémon or person sends it running back to Fenton, somehow adores the Totodile. 

Atom reaches out to the water-type, a miracle even if it’s from the safety of Fenton’s arms, and gives it a little pat on the snout. Atom smiles and Inez gives Totodile a big lick. Fenton beams and asks the starter if it wants to join his team. 

The Totodile blinks at him and doesn’t know what to do with that.

Fenton is drenched in saltwater when he comes home. 

He names his new Pokémon Nackle.

…

He's on his way home from school when he hears his next pokémon’s cry. 

Togeh! Togeh!

It sounds distressed, like it's crying while it calls out for help, so he follows it without a second thought. Inez leads the way, listening and sniffing for the mysterious Pokémon. She leads them down an alley that his mother would eye warily if she were here. A dumpster is placed against one side a couple feet in and it's completely empty except for a crying Togedemaru. 

Fenton coos at it and jumps inside before reaching for it, but the round Pokémon shocks him. He yelps, quickly withdrawing his hand. Inez barks outside the dumpster.

Fenton hesitates to put his hand out again, that hurt, but the Pokémon looks injured and they're the only ones around...

He tries again. 

He reaches for it slower this time. Inching his hand towards the Togedemaru. Inez barks and Fenton freezes in fear, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing for the oncoming pain of another electric shock. He winks an eye open after the pain doesn't come. The Togedemaru is eyeing his hand warily. Fenton doesn't move, still nervous about getting shocked again. Outside of the dumpster, Inez wags her tail. They're stuck in stalemate for a while, he's too scared to move forward but too caring to retreat. It feels like hours before Fenton gathers his courage and starts inching his hand forward again.

Inez barks and this time Fenton keeps his eyes open when he stops. He notices the little spikes on the Togedemaru, the ones he can see past the dirt and mud, are at an angle. He hadn't noticed them start to rise. Fortunately, Inez had warned him that they were moving to attack position. 

Fenton waits until the spikes fall back against the Pokémon’s body before moving again. 

He keeps up the pattern of moving forward, stopping, letting Togedemaru adjust, and then repeating. Until finally, his hand rests on filthy gray fur.

After that, it takes comparatively little time to get the Pokémon out of the dumpster. He and Inez run to the closest Pokémon Center. 

The nurse tries to take the poor thing, but the round mouse-like Pokémon refuses to leave Fenton's arms without crying. Fenton is sad to see it sedated and whisked away.

He flops into a waiting chair and pulls out his homework. M'ma won't be home for another while to make dinner. He texts her what happened and starts working. He finishes his Calculus and English assignments and is nearly done with World History when a nurse approaches him.

"You brought the Togedemaru?"

Fenton nods, "I found it in the dumpster."

The nurse gives him a long look and then turns that look to Inez who wags her tail and barks happily. The nurse smiles a little, "Alright, follow me."

He's led down a corridor to a room with a yellow sign on it. "He'll recover, but he needs someone to take care of him." The nurse says, stopping outside the room door, "Since you found him, I'll let you have first choice."

"You mean...I can keep him?" Fenton asks, already making his decision.

"If you would like, yes. But you have to take care of him. He'll need medicine and love most of all." She warns.

Fenton nods quickly, "Yes! I'll do whatever he needs me to do!"

The nurse grins at that, "He just needs your love and attention. Can you give him that?"

Fenton beams and Inez barks, "Yes, we can!"

"That's what I like to hear." The nurse nods and opens the door, "You can tell him the news yourself."

The Togedemaru looks up, clean and bandaged but with eyes so sad, Fenton's heart breaks. That all changes when he sees Fenton in the doorway. The Pokémon’s eyes light up and it cries out happily, extending its stubby white arms out to him. 

From that day on the Togedemaru's name is Proton.

It surprises Fenton how gentle his Pokémon are with Proton. Atom seems to be the leader in this regard. She stops Inez from playing too roughly with the scared Pokémon and curbs Nackle’s more mischievous tendencies, though under Fenton’s care he’s stopped his more damaging antics. M’Ma is still mad about the scratch marks on the table legs. 

That doesn’t stop the Totodile or the Growlithe from playing with Proton, and Fenton is delighted the first time he sees them playing together.

Proton startles easily. He hates battling, flinches sometimes when he hears raised voices, and occasionally he wakes Fenton up at night with his crying after a nightmare. Fenton doesn’t know what happened to Proton before Fenton found him, but it doesn’t really matter now. Proton has Fenton and his Pokémon to help him. 

And if the little round Pokémon never wants to battle again? Well, Fenton’s just fine with that. 

He used to dream about being a trainer and traveling to gyms, but now he thinks he wants to do something else with his life. 

…

He doesn't meet his next Pokémon until he's in college. 

It's late at night on campus, he had been studying in the library until he'd been kicked out by closing time. Did they really have to turn the lights off at 1 AM every day? Fenton doesn't think so.

He walks back to his room alone, Inez and the others asleep in their balls, and muttering his engineering notes back to himself when out of the corner of his eye, he sees something dart behind a tree. He ignores it, it's not unusual for wild Pokémon to be roaming around campus.

It happens twice again after that and now Fenton is sure he's being followed. 

"Hello?" He calls.

A brown head with two long ears pokes its way out of the bush it's hiding in.

Fenton kneels down, "I won't hurt you." He says softly.

The Eevee slowly walks over to him.

"My name is Fenton." He smiles and extends his hand, remembering his first meeting with Atom. The Eevee sniffs it, then plops its head in his hand. Fenton scratches under its chin and gives it some treats.

The Pokémon doesn’t stick around after that. Fenton watches it run off and wonders if the Eevee’s trainer is around.

He shrugs and continues on his way.

The next day, he takes his test and aces it, but worries he’s failed it anyway. He goes to class, does his homework and at 1 AM he’s kicked out of the library again.

The Eevee reappears again that night. Fenton gives it scratches and treats, then they both go their separate ways.

This continues on for a month, long enough for Fenton to figure out the Eevee is a stray. ‘Who in their right mind would give up an Eevee?’ He wonders.

Fenton starts to let the Pokémon meet his team. One at a time, because all four of them at once can be overwhelming for a lot of creatures. Since Proton came out of his shell, Fenton’s Pokémon are all very lively with the exception being Atom, who aids and abets more than calms them down.

It takes most of the semester for the Eevee to decide to join Fenton’s team. They’re all happy to have him.

Fenton names him Raíz.

...

Antima comes a year later, while he's abroad in Egypt. He accidentally falls behind on a tour through a pyramid and hears sniffling coming from above him. 

Fenton looks up and sees a strange shadow shaking in time with quiet sobs.

“Are you okay?” He asks and the shadow jolts. A red eye and a gold mask look down at him.

Fenton digs out a poképuff he bought for his Pokémon to eat later, “Are you hungry?” 

The Yamask drifts down and takes the puff in its ghostly black hands. It cries while it eats and when the puff is gone, one of those hands latches onto Fenton’s shirt. It cries the entire time Fenton makes his way back to the tour and doesn’t stop until they leave the Pyramid. It doesn’t seem to notice the other people around.

His professor offers him a dusk ball, “Looks like it’s grown attached to you. May as well catch it. You can always let it go if you change your mind.”

Fenton makes a face at that but catches the Yamask anyway.

He and his Pokémon are very concerned when the Yamask cries in front of them later, after they’ve all met each other, but Atom, now a Kirlia, is the first to realize they’re tears of joy rather than sadness.

Antimatter is too long of a name, so Fenton shortens it to Antima.

…

Victini is being hunted. 

It flies past him on the nature trail he’s walking and it’s not until he sees the poachers that he realizes what is happening. 

Inez, a full grown Arcanine since his junior year, takes care of four Pokémon. Atom handles the next two and nearly takes down a third. Nackle, a Croconaw shortly after Proton joined the team and now a Feraligtr, handles five more out of sheer willpower. That’s three poachers down and two to go. Eevee manages to take down two Pokémon and Antima knocks out two more. There’s still one poacher left; Fenton has one more Pokémon.

He doesn’t let Proton out to fight. His most sensitive Pokémon is finally able to watch a battle, but it might never join one and Fenton would never push it to.

Without any more battle-able Pokémon, he’s forced to let the poacher by with grit teeth and a clenched jaw. It’s devastating.

After all of that hardwork and effort…in the end, he couldn’t save Victini.

The poachers jeer at him, before leaving to tend to their Pokémon. Fenton sits off the side of the trail and holds Proton close to his chest. The Togedemaru coos while he tries not to cry. He couldn’t be like his M’Ma. He could never be a superhero

Tiii 

Proton rapidly bats his cheek with its little arms and Fenton looks up to see Victini in front of him. 

“You’re alright?” Fenton wipes his eyes.

'I am'

“You talk?!” Fenton squeaks.

The Victini laughs.

'Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera…would you like to be my partner?'

“Huh?” He blinks, “But…aren’t you the Pokémon of victory?”

'Yes'

“I didn’t win?” Fenton’s shoulders sag.

Victini chuckles. 

'It’s the little victories...'

There’s a flash of a memory from long ago. Inez hatching out of her egg after months of being careful with her.

'The big victories...'

Finally, convincing Raíz to join his team.

'The ones that take time and effort...'

Proton, dirty and crying in a dumpster, recovering at home with Fenton and his team. He didn’t feel like anyone’s hero then, but there’s a shine in Proton’s eyes that he can see in the memory. Maybe he was wrong. 

'And the ones based on chance.' 

Meeting Atom in the park. Arriving after all the other Totodiles were chosen to find Nackle.

'Victory isn’t always a competition or even what some consider winning.'

Losing to the poachers, buying time for Victini to hide from them.

'It's not beating people down to stay on top, it's offering a hand when someone falls, and they trust you enough to take it.' 

Antima clinging to his shirt, Proton taking his hand.

'Fenton I am not the embodiment of winning. I am the wisdom you gain from losing, the courage you summon to face your fears, the act of kindness drawn from your heart. 

I am miniscule, I am enormous, I am powerful, I am gentile

I am Victory

And I choose you.'


End file.
